Paradise City Arts Festival draws art lovers to Northampton

NORTHAMPTON – For Stan R. Nikkel and his wife, Ruthann Bromley, the Paradise City Arts Festival is a must when they return to the Berkshires every year from a winter in Florida.

“It’s our first visit when we come back,” Bromley said Saturday afternoon at the Three County Fairgrounds. And Nikkel said the couple, whose likes include sculpture and pottery, takes pieces of the festival with them when they go south for the winter.

“(We’re) carrying it back and forth with us,” Nikkel said.

The three-day festival began Saturday, and co-founder Linda Post, said it appeared – although was not a certainty – that the festival would reach its usual draw of approximately 15,000 people.

“It seems particularly crowded today, so I think it’s going to be on the upside of that,” she said.

The festival has drawn artists from 30 states and Canada, and Post said festivalgoers came from all over New England, New York City, Washington, D.C., and Canada, among other places. The choices are plentiful, including ceramics, paintings, decorative fiber, art glass, fine furniture, jewelry, leather, mixed media, sculpture and wearable art.

There is also live music, gourmet food and theater – and a silent auction to benefit public television station WGBY.

Post and her husband, Geoffrey, are the festival co-founders. The festival began Columbus Day weekend 1995, and three years later the Memorial Day weekend festival was added to the schedule.

Post said that with the recession, last spring’s festival resulted in good attendance “but people weren’t spending as much money.” In October, there was a shift.

“We saw the buying start to bounce back,” Post said.

Ed Branson, an Ashfield glass blower, said he was optimistic about sales this weekend. However, early Saturday afternoon he said festivalgoers “were still thinking about what they want to do, you know?”

Marjolyn van der Hart, an artist from Toronto who works in acrylic over collage, also said Saturday afternoon was too soon for buyers to have zeroed in on their choices.